NTSC Dreamcast, NTSC Game, NTSC TV, No Color?!

[dmauro]

I recently purchased a modded US Dreamcast from someone in the UK. They were using it to play mostly PAL games, but also Japanese and English games with no problems on a PAL TV. Now I'm trying to use this US Dreamcast with my copy of Under Defeat, and it's coming out in black and white (the frequency is correct though). I tried it on two US TVs with both S-Video and composite cables, and there is never any color. Is there some sort of setting to go from PAL to NTSC mode in the Dreamcast, or possibly in the modchip (I don't know what type of chip it is)?

Unfortunately I had to run off to work, so I didn't get to test it with other games, but I thought it anything the NTSC game should work since it's a NTSC system. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Edit: I figured I should also note that the swirl and menu screens come out in black and white even with no game inserted (which now the more I think about, has me all the more convinced it has something to do with the modchip).

[benn]

are you playing it through RF?
NTSC through RF = Black and White.
ideally you want to plug in to TV via scart.

[dmauro]

are you playing it through RF?
NTSC through RF = Black and White.
ideally you want to plug in to TV via scart.

I am not using RF. As I noted in the post, I tried composite and s-video connections.

How would I plug a scart cable into my US tv? Also, I would rather not have to use a special cable if there is something I can do to the console or modchip to simply get it back to it's original NTSC video mode.

[qatmix]

Modchip wont change the video-output. It just gets rid of the region lockout. The video output (NTSC/PAL) is a hardware chip. If you are playing an NTSC machine on a PAL tv you may get black and white output if the TV cannot cope with it. or vice versa.

Is your TV PAL? Is your DC pal

[benn]

nah. he just said his tv was US.
i think it has to be a signal problem.
similar thing on my old PS1. NTSC to UK tv. i think i ended up running it through a video then video to TV. man how old is that... VHS lol. showing my age now :(

[dmauro]

Both TVs I tested with are NTSC US TVs, and the Dreamcast is US NTSC (w/ modchip). It should be working normally, which is why I am thinking it must have something to do with the modchip, or perhaps a solder mod (can't you solder something on an NTSC machine to make it output PAL signal only or something like that?)

[dmauro]

I figured out the problem (thanks to a posting I managed to dig up on some random forum with the help of google). It was indeed set to output to PAL by bridging resistor 422 on the back of the motherboard. I just had to remove the solder that was put on there and it works like a charm now. If for some weird reason, anyone ever ends up in this circumstance, now you know what to do. :)

To clarify, I have a NTSC Dreamcast and a NTSC television, and a PAL signal was being outputted because a resistor on the mobo was bridged.

Now back to playing Under Defeat!

[Darksaviour69]

thats very intesting dmauro, one to remember

[qatmix]

cool, as I said it was not the modchip. Thats why I wanted to sort out the tv's as I have an NTSC bridged to pal but I live in teh uk so im fine.

Enjoy under defeat.

[SnoopKatt]

That's cool that you got it to work, Under Defeat is a very good game.